I had some company in the garden today, and not the usual suspect.
I was working down near the well, cleaning up the area because it was a lot of a mess. I had trimmed back the wattles and mown around them and was cleaning out all the grass after using the whipper snipper.
So there I was, crouched on the ground scrabbling about when I noticed a pardalote approaching from behind me. I stopped what I was doing, in an uncomfortable position mind, and it continued towards me, fossicking about in the grass and leaves, collecting bugs. It came underneath my leg and then around to the side. It could not have been any closer. Then it made its way off elsewhere.
The pardalotes and wrens made several passes through my work area during the day.
They aren’t nearly as insistent as the willy wagtails, but I have noticed that when foraging, the pardalotes at work don’t mind getting quite close to me, so long as I don’t do anything alarming.
The other week one came hopping towards me around the edge of the garden bed I had been working on, pausing every so often to look up at me, went past, came back, hopped on my boot then onto some prunings I was holding in my hand and then flew off.
Anyway, It’s nice to see them about.
Originally written August 6, 2025